This Day in Baseball History

I've been thinking of reviving this theme for a few weeks, but haven't found the right event to tie into my collection...until today.

On this day back in 1959, Whitey Ford pitched a 14-inning complete game shutout against the Washington Nationals before an estimated crowd of 7,337 at Griffith Park. Making his second start of the young season, he scattered 7 hits, walked 7, and struck out 15. The 15 K's tied the Yankees' single game record(at the time) and his 14 IP would end up being the longest outing of his career. The incredible start helped the team improve its record to 6-3. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a sign of things to come as they finished the season at 79-75 which was only good enough for 3rd place in the AL.

From an impressive on-field performance to an impressive piece of cardboard... I'm typically not a fan of unlicensed cards but this one is certainly an exception. It has a nicely cropped photo and a legible, on-card auto with an inscription! You don't see that everyday. This (somewhat)new arrival came to me courtesy of my friend Matt from Sport Card Colectors blog. We've been involved in a never-ending trade for over a year now and has been responsible for some huge PC additions. Thanks SCC, I'm looking forward to our next exchange!

The 1959 season may have been a rare disappointment in the middle of a Yankee dynasty, but the ace of the New York rotation turned in an effort befitting a future HOF'er on this day in baseball history. Thanks for reading.

Farewell to an 'Animal'

My earliest memory of watching professional wrestling was somehow convincing my parents to rent me a VHS copy of WrestleMania III. I recall having to wait until my parents weren't watching anything on the only TV we had in the house that had a VCR connected to it. From the moment I pressed 'play' until the end of the show, I was enthralled. That's it, one show and I was hooked! Subsequently, my parents allowed me to rent WM and WM II along with several of the old Coliseum Video compilation tapes. Here we are approximately 30 years later and I'm still at least a casual fan. I don't feel the same connection to many of today's stars as I did many of the ones from my early fandom. That being said, I was saddened earlier this year when Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka passed away. I didn't write about him here because of the controversial nature of his legal issues. Instead, I quietly remembered his career as an entertainer and mourned his loss.

Today, however, I heard some news that moved me to write my first tribute post of 2017. George ' The Animal' Steele has passed away at the age of 79. I never had the opportunity to watch him during his time as one of the most feared heels in the business. Rather, my memories will always be of the 'slightly off' character that sported a green tongue, ripped open turnbuckles, and pined for Miss Elizabeth.

Here is a 1985 Topps card showcasing his more violent nature(and that green tongue).

There he is ripping into one of those turnbuckle pads! While I'll remember him in his way, this last piece of cardboard shows off an image that will likely be the first to come to mind anytime I think of this HOF talent.

It all comes back to WrestleMania III. The Intercontinental Title match was definitely one of the reasons I was hooked after watching the show. It entrenched all of the participants as favorites of mine. Sadly, there is only one of those original favorites left. Rest in peace Animal. Say hello to the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. Thanks for reading.

Return of Tales From FDR Sportscards

In the earlier days of writing this blog, I posted a few stories from my favorite LCS that has long since closed, FDR Sportscards. Those few posts actually garnered some of the fewest views of any post published so I put the idea of making it a series on the shelf. Tonight, I decided to revive it for one more shot. As previously written(though not read by many), I spent a lot of time(and money) at this shop in its day. I have a lot of stories that I think are great and I pulled a lot of decent cards there. So, in the interest of sharing some of those cards(and stories) that I had already scanned in preparation for the shelved series, here is a quick single card post, just because.

The year is 2000. I'm in my early 20's, working FT and going to school. Unlike many, at this time, I am in prime collecting mode. Unfortunately, I had even less control and focus on specific collecting goals than I do now. Topps flagship has just hit the shelves and for no reason in particular! other than it is the new product on the shelf, I decided to bust a few jumbo packs. I had done no preparation and had no idea what the big draws of the product were or even much about who was in the checklist. After liking enough of what I saw in the first two packs, I decided to keep going and rip at least a third jumbo on the afternoon. Somewhere tucked in the middle of that third jumbo stack was this:

Twenty something me didn't have as great an appreciation for baseball history as present day me, but I knew who Eddie Matthews was. At the time, this was probably one of the 'best' cards in my collection. However, on multiple occasions, I seriously considered selling or trading it. In fact, had I been more eBay savvy or of a few trade negotiations went a little differently, I would not have his card today. Fortunately, I was not very inclined to learn enough about selling on eBay and the few trade partners I tried to push this on were not willing to give as much as I wanted at the time. I'm glad things worked out the way they did. Otherwise this great auto of a HOF player would be just a memory. Man, I'm really am glad younger me isn't running this collection. He didn't know what he was doing! Thanks for reading.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory - Single Card Post Sunday #3

Almost a full week after opening my first blaster of 2015 Update, I finally found another one to bust. I happened to be at my local Walmart and I saw two blasters on the shelf. I had my two year old with me, so I had her pick which one we took home. The 'bonus' pack from this blaster provides the subject of this week's Single Card Post Sunday.

I always save those packs for last when I'm busting blasters. I could tell right away when I picked the pack up that it didn't contain the typical medallion card. It was no where near heavy enough. I slowly opened the pack and peeked at the card inside...

I went from disappointment(when I saw it was Biggio), to excitement(when I saw it was an auto/relic numbered 4/5), back to disappointment when I saw the following:

It's a bit difficult to see, but the card is significantly damaged on two edges and has multiple creases on the front surface. I'm not really sure what to do from here. I've sent a message to Topps Customer Support and I know that I could send it to them for a replacement of 'similar value'. Sadly, I feel like whichever way this goes, I'm going to come out on the short end. I'm not big on flipping cards, but this is one that I likely would have put on eBay. Biggio is a HOF player that has a fairly strong hobby following. Such a limited card would have brought a decent return that I could use on a bunch of other cards for my collection. It's not going to bring any return in its condition and if I leave it in Topps' hands, I'll probably end up with a base prospect auto if some guy that will never make it in the majors.

Anyway, it's still one of the best pulls I've ever had, especially from retail product. I'm sure that this isn't the last that I'll talk about this card on this blog, so if you're interested in the saga that is to come, stay tuned to see how this situation plays out. Has anyone had a similar situation with any company? What would you guys do if you pulled a really great, but damaged card? Thanks for reading!